Research Question: How does No Child Left Behind (NCLB) affect special education? Contributed By: Alysa Dempsey
"The Impact of Federal Public Policy on Curriculum and Instruction for General Classroom"
HW Wilson by: Michael L. Hardman and Shirley Dawson
Summary of Article:
This article summarizes how the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) (2001) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) have held up and kept their promise of adequate yearly progress for all students. The article notes the history of the acts, the present day goals and standards, and future policy changes and reforms. The NCLB Act promises that "every student in U.S. schools will achieve much higher levels of academic performance (Hardman, Dawson)". In making this promise, all schools and students must reach a set goal by the government and those who do not reach it mark the schools as failures. This set progress and achievement that the government creates by grade include all students, even those with disabilities. Children with disabilities are expected to work at the same level and obtain high scores just like a child without any disabilities.
Over the years, different acts have been changed to ensure public access to education for all children, before these acts had still not been fair to children with disabilities. They have been exclusive rather than inclusive towards the children. Never did the acts set them as equals with equal opportunities towards regular children, and now the government is setting them at the same pace and achievement rate. The National Commission on Excellence in Education said that the school systems were failing, an increase in federal government help for both students with and without disabilities is necessary to improve public schools all together. To ensure that students with disabilities and special needs can be as successful as peers without disabilities, Individualized education programs are set up for each child. IEP's show the students progress and special needs they have. IT also mentions the debate in government as to involving disabled students to access to the general curriculum.
Reaction to Article:
This article shows how unfair government has always been towards children with disabilities. Although the No Child Left Behind Act is meant to ensure the highest quality of achievement, it does not benefit all children in the same way. Children with special needs need more attention and help and should not be expected to do as well on a standardized test as a student without any special needs. This is extremely unfair and shows how bias education can be, it is terrible that schools in this nation once believed that education was only for those capable of understanding, not including slower students who have special needs in order to comprehend. I agree that the government needs to take a more proactive role to ensure both students with and without disabilities are receiving the highest quality of education possible. I believe that theyre making steps towards bettering the system with IEP's. They ensure all students equal chances to achieve greatness and succeed.
"K-12 Issues will Await the President" By: David Hoff, Alyson Klein
Summary of Article:
This article is dedicated to voicing the importance of education in our society today. In a poll which asked what the most important voting factor would be, only 1 percent said that it would be education. It also talks about how our new President, will have to carefully work with the NCLB Act to ensure the standards are being met by all students in order meet the goal of having full accountability by 2013. People want standards because they think it is for the best to make sure all schools, teachers, and students are up to par, but in reality standards cannot be met at the same rate by all different students.The issue of funding for special education funding, which needs to be increased.
Reaction to Article:
The No Child Left Behind Act is important to improving education, although the outcomes and results for special needs students may not reach these goals. I believe that the federal government needs to take control over this situation and supply better funding for the special education program. The NCLB's goal for 2013 seems to me a bit unreasonable. I don't agree that all students should be required to meet set standards in a set amount of time, different students have different ability levels and should be required and punished if they are not able to meet them at the same rate as their peers.
"A Review of Special Education Law"
By: Kathleen Hurwitz
Summary of Article:
This article summarizes the importance of making sure special needs students receive the attention and help they need to succeed. It discusses laws and federal legislation and in detail describes the recent changes and amendments that have been made to the Disabilities Education Act and No Child Left Behind Act. It notes the promise of NCLB that all students, special needs and not special needs, will receive the same instruction but in a specific time frame. Sufficient time and ability to have access to necessary resources are promised as well in order to improve performance. This article stresses the importance of equal opportunities. In the late 1960's there were 8 million disabled students in the United States and their specific needs were not being met, this led to public concern and the start of federal legislature. Also in the 1970's, 1.5 million people children were excluded from school because of disabilities. These were reasons why new legislature was created.
Reaction to Article:
I agree that students should all be able to have access to necessary materials, because without them learning and teaching will be difficult and the best results would not come from it. Time is an important factor also. If a child is taught the material and does not understand, they deserve and need further attention and teaching, which would slow down the process and set them back. This is why i do not agree with all of the standards and goals and specific time frames set by the NCLB.
"Developing Standards-based Individualized Education Program Objectives for Students with Significant Needs"
By: Sharon Lynch and Paula Adams
Summary of Article:
A teacher notes the importance of IEP's in education for the individual student's and their learning. The NCLB requires that each state sets a required achievement and include the child's scores in math, reading, and science. Numerous states have different requirements for these children and different set curriculum. Studies are being made as to the success rate of these kids. The IEP's include goals and objectives which suite the child's specific disability and needs. It is the teacher's job to design programs that will fulfill the student's needs and grant access to general curriculum.
Reaction to Article:
It is interesting how IEP's work. I think they are great and are individual student planners which focus on the student's needs, strengths, and weaknesses. IEP's and teacher's help promoting NCLB will ensure student's with disabilities and special needs will reach their potential and get to the level of other students without special needs in time. This is a very positive article that makes it seem as if there is hope for the future in special education.
"Special Education: Do students with disabilities get the help they need"
By: Kathy Koch
Summary of Article:
This article expresses the success that the IDEA has had on disabled students. So far, it has brought 6 million special needs and disabled students into the public schools system. This also speaks about the high drop out rate of disabled children as apposed to non-disabled children. The numerous benefits of IDEA are noted in this article. Before this was put in place, millions of students had been turned down from public schools or forced in separate institutions. Lastly, the article touches on federal funding and whether or not more money should be spent on special education programs.
Reaction to Article:
I believe that the government should spend more money on the special needs program to help the millions of disabled students. This money would go far and help the students to succeed, since they need more attention and resources to produce work such as their peers without special needs. I also believe that the IDEA has helped many students and has the potential to help millions more.
Contributed By: Alysa Dempsey
"The Impact of Federal Public Policy on Curriculum and Instruction for General Classroom"
HW Wilson by: Michael L. Hardman and Shirley Dawson
Summary of Article:
This article summarizes how the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) (2001) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) have held up and kept their promise of adequate yearly progress for all students. The article notes the history of the acts, the present day goals and standards, and future policy changes and reforms. The NCLB Act promises that "every student in U.S. schools will achieve much higher levels of academic performance (Hardman, Dawson)". In making this promise, all schools and students must reach a set goal by the government and those who do not reach it mark the schools as failures. This set progress and achievement that the government creates by grade include all students, even those with disabilities. Children with disabilities are expected to work at the same level and obtain high scores just like a child without any disabilities.
Over the years, different acts have been changed to ensure public access to education for all children, before these acts had still not been fair to children with disabilities. They have been exclusive rather than inclusive towards the children. Never did the acts set them as equals with equal opportunities towards regular children, and now the government is setting them at the same pace and achievement rate. The National Commission on Excellence in Education said that the school systems were failing, an increase in federal government help for both students with and without disabilities is necessary to improve public schools all together. To ensure that students with disabilities and special needs can be as successful as peers without disabilities, Individualized education programs are set up for each child. IEP's show the students progress and special needs they have. IT also mentions the debate in government as to involving disabled students to access to the general curriculum.
Reaction to Article:
This article shows how unfair government has always been towards children with disabilities. Although the No Child Left Behind Act is meant to ensure the highest quality of achievement, it does not benefit all children in the same way. Children with special needs need more attention and help and should not be expected to do as well on a standardized test as a student without any special needs. This is extremely unfair and shows how bias education can be, it is terrible that schools in this nation once believed that education was only for those capable of understanding, not including slower students who have special needs in order to comprehend. I agree that the government needs to take a more proactive role to ensure both students with and without disabilities are receiving the highest quality of education possible. I believe that theyre making steps towards bettering the system with IEP's. They ensure all students equal chances to achieve greatness and succeed.
Search Results. . Retrieved December 7, 2008, from http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/results/results_single.jhtml;hwwilsonid=GAEFCAJM43ISJQA3DINCFGGADUNGIIV0.
"K-12 Issues will Await the President"
By: David Hoff, Alyson Klein
Summary of Article:
This article is dedicated to voicing the importance of education in our society today. In a poll which asked what the most important voting factor would be, only 1 percent said that it would be education. It also talks about how our new President, will have to carefully work with the NCLB Act to ensure the standards are being met by all students in order meet the goal of having full accountability by 2013. People want standards because they think it is for the best to make sure all schools, teachers, and students are up to par, but in reality standards cannot be met at the same rate by all different students.The issue of funding for special education funding, which needs to be increased.
Reaction to Article:
The No Child Left Behind Act is important to improving education, although the outcomes and results for special needs students may not reach these goals. I believe that the federal government needs to take control over this situation and supply better funding for the special education program. The NCLB's goal for 2013 seems to me a bit unreasonable. I don't agree that all students should be required to meet set standards in a set amount of time, different students have different ability levels and should be required and punished if they are not able to meet them at the same rate as their peers.
EBSCOhost: K-12 Issues Will Await President. . Retrieved December 8, 2008, from http://0-web.ebscohost.com.helin.uri.edu/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=101&sid=1d07a3d6-480a-443b-b7c0-f8a523c34a77%40sessionmgr107&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=trh&AN=35167175.
"A Review of Special Education Law"
By: Kathleen Hurwitz
Summary of Article:
This article summarizes the importance of making sure special needs students receive the attention and help they need to succeed. It discusses laws and federal legislation and in detail describes the recent changes and amendments that have been made to the Disabilities Education Act and No Child Left Behind Act. It notes the promise of NCLB that all students, special needs and not special needs, will receive the same instruction but in a specific time frame. Sufficient time and ability to have access to necessary resources are promised as well in order to improve performance. This article stresses the importance of equal opportunities. In the late 1960's there were 8 million disabled students in the United States and their specific needs were not being met, this led to public concern and the start of federal legislature. Also in the 1970's, 1.5 million people children were excluded from school because of disabilities. These were reasons why new legislature was created.
Reaction to Article:
I agree that students should all be able to have access to necessary materials, because without them learning and teaching will be difficult and the best results would not come from it. Time is an important factor also. If a child is taught the material and does not understand, they deserve and need further attention and teaching, which would slow down the process and set them back. This is why i do not agree with all of the standards and goals and specific time frames set by the NCLB.
ScienceDirect - Pediatric Neurology : A Review of Special Education Law. . Retrieved December 8, 2008, from http://0-www.sciencedirect.com.helin.uri.edu/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TBD-4T8SCYN-3&_user=657938&_coverDate=09%2F30%2F2008&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000035679&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=657938&md5=5600935f1fee0d5f32951371c9926a1a.
"Developing Standards-based Individualized Education Program Objectives for Students with Significant Needs"
By: Sharon Lynch and Paula Adams
Summary of Article:
A teacher notes the importance of IEP's in education for the individual student's and their learning. The NCLB requires that each state sets a required achievement and include the child's scores in math, reading, and science. Numerous states have different requirements for these children and different set curriculum. Studies are being made as to the success rate of these kids. The IEP's include goals and objectives which suite the child's specific disability and needs. It is the teacher's job to design programs that will fulfill the student's needs and grant access to general curriculum.
Reaction to Article:
It is interesting how IEP's work. I think they are great and are individual student planners which focus on the student's needs, strengths, and weaknesses. IEP's and teacher's help promoting NCLB will ensure student's with disabilities and special needs will reach their potential and get to the level of other students without special needs in time. This is a very positive article that makes it seem as if there is hope for the future in special education.
EBSCOhost: Developing Standards-Based Individualized Education Program Objectives for ... . Retrieved December 8, 2008, from http://0-web.ebscohost.com.helin.uri.edu/ehost/pdf?vid=6&hid=114&sid=9f036a8e-d067-4e2e-b29e-bea0d4f7ecb9%40sessionmgr102.
"Special Education: Do students with disabilities get the help they need"
By: Kathy Koch
Summary of Article:
This article expresses the success that the IDEA has had on disabled students. So far, it has brought 6 million special needs and disabled students into the public schools system. This also speaks about the high drop out rate of disabled children as apposed to non-disabled children. The numerous benefits of IDEA are noted in this article. Before this was put in place, millions of students had been turned down from public schools or forced in separate institutions. Lastly, the article touches on federal funding and whether or not more money should be spent on special education programs.
Reaction to Article:
I believe that the government should spend more money on the special needs program to help the millions of disabled students. This money would go far and help the students to succeed, since they need more attention and resources to produce work such as their peers without special needs. I also believe that the IDEA has helped many students and has the potential to help millions more.
CQ Researcher Online - Entire Report. . Retrieved December 8, 2008, from http://0-library.cqpress.com.helin.uri.edu/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2000111000&type=hitlist&num=1.
EDC 102 F08 Fnl Proj Eval - Alysa D